''The Great Southern Trendkill'' is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

, released on May 7, 1996, through

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

and East West Records. It reached number 4 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. During the album's production, Phil Anselmo recorded the vocals alone at Trent Reznor's Nothing Studios in New Orleans, while

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founde ...

, Rex Brown, and

Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, ...

recorded the music at Chasin Jason Studios in Dalworthington Gardens. This would be Pantera's last studio album to be produced by Terry Date, who had worked with the band since '' Cowboys from Hell'' (1990).

Content

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", the album's longest song, contains a guitar solo considered by many to be Dimebag Darrell's finest. ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' magazine voted it as the 32nd greatest guitar solo of all-time, Darrell's highest ranking of three solos to make the list (the other two being his solos from " Cemetery Gates", ranked 35th, and "

Walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

", ranked 57th). "10's" appears in the English dub of '' Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan''. The album is available as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

for the video game ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'', with the exception of " Suicide Note Pt. I".

Music and lyrics

Considered Pantera's most aggressive album, the album features elements of

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

, but is mostly considered a groove metal album overall. ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' is known for featuring much

screaming A scream is a loud/hard speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including h ...

, most notably on " Suicide Note Pt. II" and "The Great Southern Trendkill" while also featuring some of the fastest tempos and most down-tuned guitars: "The Underground in America" and "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin", in particular, were played in A=425 Hz standard D tuning, with the 6th string tuned to a low G. It also has a more experimental nature, such as the

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s and ballads. Like Pantera's previous album,

Far Beyond Driven ''Far Beyond Driven'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 21, 1994 in the UK and March 22 internationally by Elektra Records and East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at n ...

, the vocals are often double-tracked and layered. An example of this can be heard in the chorus of "13 Steps to Nowhere", when Phil Anselmo's singing voice is backed up by high-pitched screaming, done by Seth Putnam of the band

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. Screams done by Anselmo on the song "The Great Southern Trendkill" were compared to Putnam. The lyrical themes on ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' include drugs, a flood that ends mankind, finding deeper meaning, anger, and the media.

Critical reception

''The Great Southern Trendkill'' received mixed to positive reviews from music critics upon release and was more polarizing than Pantera's previous albums. Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave it a score of 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "Longtime Pantera fans will find plenty to enjoy here, and the band's expanding range bodes well, but overall, ''Trendkill'' is an inconsistent outing." In retrospective analysis, the album has often been looked on more favorably, being noted as their heaviest and most aggressive work. In a retrospective review for ''

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'', Saby Reyes-Kulkarni awarded it a score of 7.7/10 and summarized their review by saying "Intended as a rallying cry against shifting trends, Pantera's most abrasive album comes off more like a cry for help that reveals the turmoil eating the band from within. It's also thrilling." In 2024, Jon Wiederhorn of ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' stated "''The Great Southern Trendkill'' writhes and rails with desperation and self-loathing and roars with a new reservoir of aggression and intensity, making it the heaviest album Pantera ever released." In 2019, ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' ranked it as the best Pantera album.

Reissue

On August 12, 2016, Pantera announced the release of a 20th anniversary edition of ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' for October 21. The reissue features two discs, including a remastered version of the original album as well as 12 unreleased tracks (these include instrumentals, as well as alternative mixes and live recordings from the Dynamo Festival in 1998). In addition, a separate LP named ''The Great Southern Outtakes'' was released. It consists of songs also released on disc 2 of ''Trendkill's'' reissue except for the intro and early mix of " Suicide Note Part l".

Track listing

Personnel

Pantera * Phil Anselmo – lead vocals, backing vocals *

– guitars, backing vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar on "Suicide Note Pt. I" * Rex Brown – bass, backing vocals *

– drums, backing vocals Additional personnel * Seth Putnam – additional vocals on "The Great Southern Trendkill", "War Nerve", "13 Steps to Nowhere", and "Suicide Note Pt. II" *Ross Karpelman – keyboards on "Suicide Note Pt. I" and "Living Through Me (Hells' Wrath)" Technical personnel * Terry Date – production, recording, mixing *Vinnie Paul – production, recording, mixing *Pantera – co-production * Ulrich Wild – recording

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Southern Trendkill, The 1996 albums Albums produced by Terry Date East West Records albums Pantera albums